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Linguaglossa (Catania Province) is 49 km from Catania, alt. 550 m, on the northeast face of Etna, area 58.4 sq km, pop. over 5,500, post-code 95015, tel. 095. Agriculteral economy: hazel-nuts, wine, timber, cheese.
The name of the town is probably derived from lingua grossa ("great tongue"), which refers to a lava stream formed after the eruption of the volcano in 1634, and also corresponds to the elongated distribution of the town. Another explanation is that the name is tautological: both lingua in Latin and glossa in Greek mean "tongue".
There are historical references to the town in Norman times (it is mentioned in a document of 1145). The fief belonged to a Crisafi and the Bonanno families; after 1630 it was part of the royal domain.
The train around Etna (Ferrovia Circumetnea) stops here.
Of interest is the convent (1647) and the nearby Linguaglossa Wood, a forested area wonderful for camping and hiking. Also nearby are skiing facilities. It is a beautiful place to play!
Churches (Acireale Diocese) include the following:
Santa Maria delle Grazie (Duomo, 18th century)
Chiesa dei Cappuccini (1644, historic)
Chiesa dei Padri Domenicani (historic)
S. Franceso di Paola (16th century)
SS. Antonio e Vito
Families researched in those records include the following:
Badale
Capani
di Mauro
Emmi
Furnaturi
Greco
La Grassa
Mascali
Pagano
Pasa
Vacchio
On September 1 is the Festa of Sant'Egidio. Pentathalon of Etna is here in July.
Links to sites with more about Linguaglossa include:
Italian Wikipedia
Italian Towns
Italian Postal Codes
Sicily Web
Lingualossa Photos
Linguaglossa
Catania Provincia
Sicilia
Sicilian Net
My latest book on CD is titled Sicily - A Reference for Researchers and is now available. With a file for each town (plus many other files), it relates the history of Sicily as reflected in the photos, records and festivals of its towns. It contains over 2500 text and photo files and can be ordered at CD order.
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© Kathy Kirkpatrick 1997-2008
